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From: Shakeel Butt <shakeel.butt@linux.dev>
To: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
Cc: Johannes Weiner <hannes@cmpxchg.org>,
	Michal Hocko <mhocko@kernel.org>,
	Roman Gushchin <roman.gushchin@linux.dev>,
	Muchun Song <muchun.song@linux.dev>, Tejun Heo <tj@kernel.org>,
	Meta kernel team <kernel-team@meta.com>,
	cgroups@vger.kernel.org, linux-mm@kvack.org,
	linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: [PATCH for-7.5 2/5] memcg: use high_work for kernel threads
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 2026 14:09:54 -0700	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20261010210957.1350874-3-shakeel.butt@linux.dev> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20261010210957.1350874-1-shakeel.butt@linux.dev>

Kernel threads never return to userspace, so deferred memory.high
reclaim does not run. Reclaim and throttling during a charge can also
delay work they do for other tasks.

Treat kernel threads like interrupts. Queue high_work for the first
cgroup over memory.high and skip reclaim and throttling in the charging
thread.

User workers created by create_io_thread() and vhost_task_create() keep
their current behavior. Vhost kernel threads use the new path, even when
they borrow the owner's mm.

The worker requests a fixed batch of pages each time. A fast allocator
can keep usage well above memory.high. Kernel threads also skip
memory.swap.high throttling and its high-event reporting. The memory.max
and memory.swap.max checks stay the same.

Suggested-by: Tejun Heo <tj@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Shakeel Butt <shakeel.butt@linux.dev>
---
 mm/memcontrol.c | 13 +++++++++++--
 1 file changed, 11 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/mm/memcontrol.c b/mm/memcontrol.c
index 20c5dfe1a894..8116fce6ab96 100644
--- a/mm/memcontrol.c
+++ b/mm/memcontrol.c
@@ -2705,6 +2705,7 @@ static void memcg_enforce_high(struct mem_cgroup *memcg, unsigned int nr_pages,
 			       gfp_t gfp_mask)
 {
 	bool allow_spinning = gfpflags_allow_spinning(gfp_mask);
+	bool use_worker = !in_task() || (current->flags & PF_KTHREAD);
 
 	/*
 	 * If the hierarchy is above the normal consumption range, schedule
@@ -2723,8 +2724,12 @@ static void memcg_enforce_high(struct mem_cgroup *memcg, unsigned int nr_pages,
 		swap_high = page_counter_read(&memcg->swap) >
 			READ_ONCE(memcg->swap.high);
 
-		/* Don't bother a random interrupted task */
-		if (!in_task()) {
+		/*
+		 * Don't make an unrelated interrupted task handle this charge.
+		 * Kernel threads may be working for other tasks, so let a worker
+		 * reclaim instead.
+		 */
+		if (use_worker) {
 			if (mem_high) {
 				if (allow_spinning)
 					schedule_work(&memcg->high_work);
@@ -2751,6 +2756,10 @@ static void memcg_enforce_high(struct mem_cgroup *memcg, unsigned int nr_pages,
 		}
 	} while ((memcg = parent_mem_cgroup(memcg)));
 
+	/* Interrupts and kernel threads stop here. */
+	if (use_worker)
+		return;
+
 	/*
 	 * Reclaim is set up above to be called from the userland
 	 * return path. But also attempt synchronous reclaim to avoid
-- 
2.53.0-Meta



  parent reply	other threads:[~2026-10-10 21:10 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 8+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2026-10-10 21:09 [PATCH for-7.5 0/5] memcg: clean up memory.high enforcement Shakeel Butt
2026-10-10 21:09 ` [PATCH for-7.5 1/5] memcg: move memory.high enforcement out of try_charge_memcg() Shakeel Butt
2026-10-12 13:22   ` Harry Yoo
2026-10-12 17:13     ` Shakeel Butt
2026-10-10 21:09 ` Shakeel Butt [this message]
2026-10-10 21:09 ` [PATCH for-7.5 3/5] memcg: use high_work for remote charges Shakeel Butt
2026-10-10 21:09 ` [PATCH for-7.5 4/5] memcg: avoid queuing high_work from reclaim Shakeel Butt
2026-10-10 21:09 ` [PATCH for-7.5 5/5] memcg: simplify high limit handling after a charge Shakeel Butt

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